skinink:"Sally Bercow, wife of the Speaker of the House of Commons, has been told she may be sued for claims she made on her social media account. Her first Twitter response to the warning was: "*gulps*". "[msnbcmedia.msn.com image 389x600]She's blonde and pretty, so she must be innocent.

Summoner101:skinink: "Sally Bercow, wife of the Speaker of the House of Commons, has been told she may be sued for claims she made on her social media account. Her first Twitter response to the warning was: "*gulps*". "[msnbcmedia.msn.com image 389x600]She's blonde and pretty, so she must be innocent.

There is no First Amendment rights in the UK. And it is very possible for them to file a lawsuit against you there in court, you lose by default when you laugh, and then the financial world hands your assets to the plaintif in accordance with international agreements.

skinink:"Sally Bercow, wife of the Speaker of the House of Commons, has been told she may be sued for claims she made on her social media account. Her first Twitter response to the warning was: "*gulps*". "[msnbcmedia.msn.com image 389x600]She's blonde and pretty, so she must be innocent.

The mayor of Syracuse tried similar. The rumor was not about underage buggery, but that he beat his wife. He, obviously not familiar with the Streissand effect, had all the news stations broadcast his threats to fully prosecute anyone spreading the malicious rumor. It was sad, really. Also, the rumor had been going around for years before he caught wind of it. I don't know if anyone ever told him that.

No one was ever charged or sued. The publicity assured that the last few housebound seniors with no friends or internet connection also heard about it.

/before Streissand effect, now that I think about it//results still could have been predicted

There is no First Amendment rights in the UK. And it is very possible for them to file a lawsuit against you there in court, you lose by default when you laugh, and then the financial world hands your assets to the plaintif in accordance with international agreements.

Worse, in the UK you can be arrested and jailed for saying mean things that hurt people's feelings.

Does UK law require that the person spreading the falsehood know that it's a falsehood? Because I'm pretty sure that that's a critical component, and as far as the people spreading it on Twitter were concerned, it was reported by the BBC, and as such, fact.